


Angels of Death

by chrissy_sky



Series: Halloween 2015 [6]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M, Post Advent Children, Pre-Slash, Vague trippyness, Vincent is Sephiroth's father
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 23:14:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5109101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrissy_sky/pseuds/chrissy_sky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cloud gets some help from a couple of unlikely sources.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Angels of Death

**Author's Note:**

> Grim Reaper - Someone comes face-to-face with the Angel of Death… - Cloud
> 
> The actual 'angel of death' is left open to interpretation here.

Grim Reaper - Someone comes face-to-face with the Angel of Death… - Cloud

-

Cloud looked into the bright flames of hellfire, that rose so high that they reached the sky. Or what seemed to be the sky. In truth, there was no sky in this place. He knew that much at least.

What he didn't understand was how he had ended up here? Cloud had made mistakes, big ones, and he'd killed people while working for Avalanche, but he'd done a lot to make up for that since then. Or so he thought. 

Maybe Zach was the one who was actually good, and it was his goodness that had made Cloud do good, not his own mind or thoughts. 

"Sure, blame me," Hojo said. The mad scientist was a weird amalgamation of himself and some of his experiments, the white labcoat stretched and torn in places by inhuman, wiggling appendages. 

"It's what he's good at, after all," said smirking President Shinra. He was grotesquely burned all over his body, and his weight seemed almost comically exaggerated by something moving under his scarred flesh. 

Closer to the flames, he thought he saw the still familiar shapes of the tragically naive clones, Loz and Yazoo. He knew he heard them laughing. 

In the flames, an image of a beautiful woman appeared, but her body was disproportionate and huge. As though she were too large for him to ever accept in his mind.

"Such a foolish child," said Jenova. "Come to me, my child. Come to me at last."

Cloud was tired. So tired of fighting this… thing. It seemed he had been doing this all his life and not just the last few years, some of which he had no memory of whatsoever. 

Jenova seemed to smile at him kindly, but that smile was like water rippling on the surface of a deep pool that he could not see into. "This is where you belong, child. With me. With us."

He wondered if that was what Sephiroth had seen, when he first encountered this creature. Was that why his once idol had so believed that it could be his true mother? Had this false kindness so easily tricked Sephiroth, because his life had been filled with no kindness at all? 

But that wasn't right. Sephiroth had been kind, once. Hadn't he? Cloud remembered… laughing. Boasting with Genesis and Angeal on missions. Conversations with Zach, shared doubts and fears. Avoiding Hojo because of the pain and blackouts. Concern for fellow Soldiers. Memories that both were and were not his, but they were true all the same. No matter how much Cloud tried to forget them.

Cloud was also tired of his own mind, for this reason. For all the thoughts that were both his and not. It would be so much easier to just accept Jenova, wouldn't it? 

To stop struggling. Stop fighting. He could step into the flames now and not have to think ever again.

It was somehow even more tempted than when Sephiroth had offered him this oblivion. 

"Did we really fall for this?" asked a new voice, young and sardonic. 

"Apparently," said another, deeper, so familiar. "I have no memory of it though."

"Of course not. Your memories were taken and put into something else."

"Tch. So many clones."

Cloud turned slowly, his body as sluggish as his mind. Behind him, not at all maimed or disabled, were two beautiful angels of death. His throat tightened at the sight of them, marvelously whole and alive, without the gleam of insanity in their eyes. 

Sephiroth, as he only remembered in memories not entirely his own. Kadaj, as he'd never seen him, sane and whole. Both of them faintly glowing and almost luminescent in their brightness, in such contrast with the darkness and flame. 

Both having wanted families so badly that they made terrible mistakes because of it, Cloud realized almost deliriously. He'd always known that, but hadn't accepted it, until now. It was so much easier to just hate them. Forgiveness, after the fact, hurt far more than the hate. 

"Sephiroth…" Cloud started. As he always did seeing him again. He wasn't surprised. Sephiroth, like Aerith and Zach, could never really die in the Lifestream. Like them, he would always be with him.

More than a memory.

The flames rose, burning brighter. "Ungrateful children," Jenova hissed at them.

Why did it seem like Jenova was unhappy to see them? Unless…

Kadaj grabbed hold of Cloud's arm and began tugging him away from the flames, from the creatures that were now Hojo and President Shinra. "No, we don't belong to you. Not anymore."

Other creatures appeared in the flames, dancing merrily and beckoning. They all looked like versions of Sephiroth. So many clones. "Don't fight us, brothers," they said. "You know the Truth. Join us."

"What you call truth, is actually the truest lie," Sephiroth said, Masamune appearing in his outstretched hand. He moved between them and Cloud and Kadaj. "Take Cloud out of here. I'll cover your backs."

Kadaj continued pulling Cloud away. "Come on, move! We've gotta go!"

Cloud hesitated, his feet dragging on the charred brimstone earth. "But, Sephiroth… We can't leave him…" He wasn't sure what was happening, but he knew that much. 

It was too much like Zach, sacrificing himself for Cloud's sake. He couldn't let that happen again. 

"We're not," Kadaj replied. "But this place is dangerous. If we stay, Jenova will have the power to be reborn again. Aerith can only keep this portal open for so long. We've gotta go now!" 

"Aerith?" Cloud blinked at the smaller clone, puzzled but following. He sensed Sephiroth fighting behind them, but also following. 

"She's powerful in the Lifestream, but fighting Jenova at full strength would be too much," Kadaj said. "We've got to get you back into the living world." 

"Aerith sent you?" What a strange conclusion. 

Kadaj smiled weakly. "Well, yeah. We're not exactly a conventional family but what else could we do? You wandering into the Lifestream like it's nothing, getting grabbed by hellbeasts… You have all the bad luck, Cloud."

"I don't remember," Cloud told him honestly. They were getting closer to the light now. Glancing behind them, he saw Sephiroth battling his clones, his long hair blazing with holy light. The wing he'd gotten from Jenova, after death, was gone.

"That's no surprise," Kadaj joked. "You should probably sleep now. It'll make the journey back easier." 

Cloud's mind suddenly felt heavy from Kadaj's words, and then things got too bright to see, and Cloud tuned out everything for awhile. 

He floated in bliss above an ocean of warmth for some time, before waking slowly to arguing voices. 

He could make out Barret's deep, loud voice, Tifa's sharp tones cutting like a knife, in contrast to Vincent's softer grumbling, and Naraku's reassuring growls. He could even make out Reeve and Yuffie. They were all arguing about something and he wasn't sure who was on whose side. 

Cloud opened his eyes slowly. The world was no longer so bright, but it still hurt at first until his sight adjusted. 

He was back in his room above the bar, the one he shared with Tifa as though they were siblings. He was vaguely aware of Tifa wanting them to be more than that, but Cloud was never able to return those feelings. His own lack of self worth and inclination toward the same sex being the main reasons. 

"Hey."

Cloud turned to the soft, young voice. Kadaj, beautiful and strangely serene, looked severely out of place in the domestic, cluttered bedroom. He wasn't wearing his leathers, like the last time Cloud had seen him, and like in the dream. 

"You're wearing my shirt," Cloud said, tiredly thinking that he quite liked seeing the younger boy in his clothes. It made him feel strangely warm inside, and embarrassingly, down toward his crotch. 

_That_ was a sensation he hadn't felt inclined toward in awhile. He remembered some vague, sleepy encounters with Zach while he'd been recovering, his friend doing anything to get Cloud to wake up for more than a few minutes at a time. Since then, almost nothing. 

Right now, he wished Kadaj would get on the bed with him and straddle his lap. With the shirt on but sans the pants. 

Kadaj smiled that awkward smile again. "Should I take it off?"

Cloud bit down a groan. He was tired and delirious, no need to scar the boy further. "It's fine. Where's… Did we leave Sephiroth behind?" he asked, trying to rise.

Kadaj held him down. "No, he's downstairs with the others. He wanted to speak with… our father, our real father, and seems to have gotten distracted by the others wanting to kill him. Again."

"You're back?" 

Kadaj shrugged. "We kind of had to, in order to bring you back. Just don't go wandering into hell again without giving us some warning, okay?"

"I don't think I intended to in the first place," Cloud told him. "I still don't remember what happened."

"I'll explain later," Kadaj promised, petting his forehead soothingly. "Don't worry about the others. Vincent and Reeve won't let them do anything to us. Just rest for now."

"Vincent…" Right. Vincent was Sephiroth's real father, not Hojo. Reeve had found that out while digging through Shinra archives. Not even Rufus had known that little fact. 

"I'm serious, go back to sleep. Sephiroth and I are taking care of it."

Cloud closed his eyes. "Will you stay?" He didn't want Kadaj to leave, especially with Sephiroth downstairs, and the state of his sanity undetermined.

Not that Cloud was very sane himself. Relatively.

"Of course." More petting, delicate hands running through his hair. 

"You're beautiful," Cloud said before he could think better of it. He'd always thought so, though. Just as he'd always thought the same of the General. 

Kadaj laughed softly. "You're tired. Just sleep, Cloud."

He did, falling back into that safe, blissfully floating place. 

-

It was amusing that Kadaj was getting a pass, considering they had recently fought him, and Sephiroth was still the one they feared. 

It wouldn't have mattered if he told them that most of the times they'd fought him in the past, it had merely been clones created by Jenova. He suspected that it wouldn't make any difference. Tuesti, Valentine, and possibly Rufus Shinra would be interested in the knowledge, but the rest of the group were far less interested in the technicalities. All they saw in him was a potential threat to Cloud.

He supposed he should be glad that his former subordinate, the last living member of his Nibelheim team, had such loyal compatriots. He had failed Cloud and Zach miserably, his judgement clouded by both Hojo's research and Jenova's lies. Nothing would make up for that, even returning from the grave to save Cloud now.

Five days ago, Cloud had gone on a trip to the Forgotten Capital. He arrived safely, Tifa confirmed as she had received one last phone call from him there. After that, nothing. After searching for clues, they could follow Cloud's path a ways into the strange forest, until his tracks simply stopped at the foot of the pond. They found no other signs. He seemed to have just vanished.

Until Cloud emerged from the water, alive but unconscious, carried to shore by Kadaj. Sephiroth had followed only moments later. 

The ironic thing was that after everything he and his clones had done, Sephiroth had no desire to return to this plain of reality. He'd known a peace he hadn't deserved in the Lifestream. He could talk to Zach, Angeal, and Genesis anytime he liked. He finally got to know Aerith, who was a charming girl and deserved far better than the fate she received. He finally got a family in the form of Kadaj, who had joined them very recently, though he didn't really think of the boy as a brother. Their relationship was a bit more complicated than that. 

Or he could wander off to be alone. There was no Hojo, no experiments. He could do as he liked, as he never was able to in the living world. He knew peace. 

"None of this makes any damn sense!" Yuffie Kisaragi huffed. The young ninja sad cross-legged on the bar. "Why would you even help Cloud?"

Sephiroth sighed. So much for peace. Now he was stuck. He figured his friends in the Lifestream were watching and having a good laugh at his expense about now. "He was a subordinate under my command. It may be years ago, but for me it's like yesterday. I have no memory of fighting you. I don't even remember most of Nibelheim's destruction. When Cloud killed me that first time, in the lab that housed Jenova's remains, I think I was already consumed. I was worse than dead." 

She and Lockhart both made derisive noises. Wallace and Highwind sneered. 

Sephiroth was unsurprised. "It feels like I'm back in Hojo's lab," he said mildly to Valentine, who at least would know what he meant. "All that contempt and righteous smugness." 

"How dare you compare us to that--that _monster_?!" Wallace stepped closer in order to yell in his face, raising his gun arm. "You're not the one that's been let down here, buddy, so you'd better get off your high horse! You were a fucking war hero! People depended on you!"

"That fact I am well aware of." 

Vincent moved between them, shifting so fast that Sephiroth almost didn't see the movement. "Barrett. Sephiroth was twenty when he died. He knew nothing but being a Soldier for Shinra and Hojo's favorite lab rat." 

Wallace growled. "Look, just because your old girlfriend was his mom--"

Vincent's claws flexed. " _Don't_ talk about Lucrecia--"

The arguing continued and Sephiroth began to tune it out, because it almost had nothing to do with him at that point. It did make him remember Angeal and Genesis though, the last argument he'd had with both of them, and Sephiroth didn't want to remember that either. 

He sat down in what he thought was an out of the way place in the bar but soon realized he wasn't alone. Sephiroth peeked under the table to see a small boy. 

The boy shrank back a little.

Sephiroth had no experience with children, but he didn't believe he disliked them. It was more that he just never had the opportunity to associate with children, even when he was a child. 

"Hello," he greeted the boy. 

The greeting made the boy a little more brave, though he was naturally a very brave child. "Hi…" he returned shyly. 

Sephiroth recognized Denzel. This was Cloud's son. The boy had lost as much as any of them had when Midgar fell. He thought it was very fitting that Cloud had decided to adopt Denzel, after winding up with the boy in his care.

"It's very noisy down here, isn't it?" Sephiroth observed lowly.

Denzel nodded. "You don't seem like the guy that destroyed Midgar."

Sephiroth smiled faintly. "I'm grateful, though your opinion seems to be in the minority."

"Were you really dead?"

The man nodded. "I was, and I won't say I didn't deserve it. But I wasn't the one that destroyed Midgar. Some part of me, maybe, but I was basically a puppet by then. I couldn't control what was being done through me."

Denzel's eyes darkened. "Th-That happened to me too."

"I'm sorry." Many people had suffered for his mistake in Nibelheim. Sephiroth meant what he said to Wallace, that he was well aware of what he'd caused to happen. "But you're not alone. Cloud also knows what it feels like."

Denzel nodded, glancing upstairs. "He's up there with the guy who… At least, he looks like him. He's not the same either, is he?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Kadaj is not the same as he was then either, no. The Lifestream healed his mind. Like me, Kadaj also did not have a choice in what happened to him. He wouldn't do anything now to hurt either you or Cloud."

Denzel slowly crawled out from under the table. "Can you tell me what happened?" Denzel looked at the arguing adults uneasily. "It doesn't seem like they're ready to hear it yet."

"Perhaps not. Let's wait upstairs for them to cool off and I can try to explain."

"Okay." 

Sephiroth offered his hand, because he was vaguely aware that you did that, with children. It didn't even occur to him that Denzel might be too old now for it until after the boy took hold of him and began leading him upstairs to the room they left Cloud resting inside.

-

When Cloud next woke, it was to a warm weight in bed beside him, a very husky and masculine warmth. His cock began to respond to it until he recognized his son's voice nearby.

And the general's. 

Cloud jerked up in bed before he even realized he was awake. "Sir!"

Denzel sat in Sephiroth's lap on the other bed in the room. Both paused and blinked at him, the general's cat-like gaze filling with something akin to shame. 

"I'm hardly a general anymore, Cloud. You don't have to stand on formality."

"And you should be resting." Kadaj pushed him back into bed gently.

Cloud blinked at the beautiful teenager, who was in bed with him like this was something they always did. And Sephiroth was sitting with Denzel in his lap, so innocently, and Cloud wasn't sure he could wrap his brain around this. 

"Denzel and I were discussing things," Sephiroth said. 

"Are you okay, Cloud?" Denzel asked, looking at him with wide, worried eyes.

Cloud attempted to relax, for Denzel's sake, reminding himself that Sephiroth and Kadaj had sacrificed being in the Lifestream just to save him. "Yeah…" 

Though he didn't think he deserved it. 

Sephiroth nudged Denzel. "Cloud just needs to rest. Why don't you take a nap with them? I should make sure the others don't tear the bar apart." 

"I should talk to them," Cloud said as Denzel climbed into bed with him and Kadaj. As if it was the most natural thing in the world. As if they were all a family. The idea made his chest flutter like crazy. 

"You can, after you've had time to rest." Sephiroth briefly rested a hand in Cloud's hair. "For now, let me take care of this."

"Okay…" 

Kadaj nuzzled his cheek gently. "You heard Brother, Cloud. Rest."

Cloud blushed brightly at the gesture and how Sephiroth smiled because of it. "Uh… Okay…"

He was certainly less turned on with Denzel in bed with them, but the sudden affection wasn't helping. He sat back and closed his eyes, deciding to go with it for now. 


End file.
